Rail-joint



J. 0. PEPPERS. RAIL JOIN T.

I APPLICATION FILED MET-9.1920.

1,377,272, 7 Patented May 10, 1921.

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INVENTOR ATTORNEYS RAIL-JOINT.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented May 10, 1921.

Application filed. October 9, 1920. Serial No. 415,758.

T 0 all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JERRY CoAT'rs PEP- rnns, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of New Orleans, in the parish of Orleans and State of Louisiana, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Rail-Joints, of which the following is a specification.

The present invention relates in general to rail joints, and more particularly to a rail joint of the chair type.

The object of the invention is to provide a rail joint of this character which is of extremely simple and durable construction, reliable in operation, and easy and inexpensive to manufacture and apply, and which is especially adapted for use as an emergency splice, being capable of effecting a complete and safe union of broken rails without the use of bolts or similar fastenings and with a great saving of time and labor.

Other objects and advantages of the invention reside in certain novel features of construction, combination and arrangement of parts as will be hereinafter more fully described and particularly pointed out in the appended claim, reference being had to. the accompanying drawings forming part of this specification, and in which:

Figure 1 is a plan view of the rail joint in use;

Fig. 2 is a view in transverse vertical sec tion on line 22 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 8 is a similar view on line 3-3 of Fig. 1; and

Fig. 4 is a plan view of the base plate and integral angle of the rail joint.

Referring to the drawings, the characters R and R designate meeting rails of a railway track or the like. Each of the rails as usual includes a tread T, a web W and a base B.

The rail joint which constitutes the invention, consists of a base plate 10 of rectangular form and of metallic construction which is adapted to underlie the bases of the meeting rails. A fish plate or angle plate 11 is integrally formed with the base plate 10 along one side thereof. as shown in the drawings. The integral fish plate 11 comprises an inclined portion 11 adapted to lie against one side of the bases of the rails and a substantially vertical portion 11 adapted to lie closely adjacent one face of the webs of the rails. The vertical portion 11 of the integral fish plate may if desired be provided with integral laterally extending lugs 12, which are adapted to enter, in assembled position, the openings 13 formed in the webs of the rails. These lugs 12 are preferably four in number and are arranged in pairs, one pair for each rail, as shown in Fig. 4. A tapering flange 14 is integrally formed with the base plate at the side thereof opposite to the integral fish plate 11. The flange 14 is provided with a vertically extending portion 14 and an inwardly and substantially horizontally extending portion 14 which defines a slot or groove 14. The vertical portion 14 of the flange is of tapering form, and thus the groove 14 is of tapering form, as indicated by dotted lines in Fig. 4, for a purpose to be hereinafter more fully described.

A removable angle or fish plate 15 is provided and includes an inclined portion 15 adapted to lie against the other side of the base of the rails and a vertical portion 15 adapted to lie against the other face of the webs of the rails. The portion 15 is of taporing form and is provided along its tapering edge with a reduced shoulder 15 which is adapted to enter the slot 14 of the flange 14 and to be confined therein by a horizontally extending portion 14 thereof. It is obvious that as the fish plate 15 is slid into position it is forced home with the vertical portion thereof snugly engaging the web of the rail and the inclined portion thereof snugly engaging the base of the rail by the coaction of its inclined edge with the inclined vertical portion 14 of the flange 14. This engagement of the angle plate 15 brings about a simultaneous engagement of the angle plate 11, drawing the inclined portion 11 thereof into snug engagement with the adjacent portion of the base of the rail and the vertical portion thereof into snug engagement with the web of the rail, and if the lugs 12 are used they are forced into the openings 13 provided therefor in the webs of the rails.

Fastening means are provided for permanently maintaining the rail joint in assembled position and for this purpose the base plate 10 is provided adjacent the integral fish plate 11 with spaced notches 16 and adjacent the flange 14 with spaced notches 17. The base plate is also provided at a point beneath the removable fish plate with elongated and alined slots 18 and the fish plate 15 is provided with openings 19 which are adapted to register with the elongated slots 18. .When the rail joint has been assembled spikes 20 are driven through the notches 16 into the ties and spikes 21 are driven through the notches 17 into the ties. Spikes 22 are also driven into the base through the openings 19 and registering elongated slots 18 in the base plate and when the parts are so assembled the meeting ends of the rails are permanently joined together to maintain the rails in alinement and to maintain the track continuous and unbroken. If the rail joint is used as an emergency splice the lugs 12 are omitted and the broken rails may be quickly joined without the use of bolts and consequently without the necessity of drilling or otherwise boring bolt holes and similar openings in the rails.

In all of the uses and embodiments of the invention the base plate is adapted at one end, as at 23, to receive the embracing end 25 of a malleable metallic keeper 26 which is associated with the base plate before the wedge is inserted and which is bent upwardly, as shown in Figs. 1 and 3, after the wedge has been assembled with the base plate. The adaptation of the base plate designated generally by 23 consists as shown in the drawings of pressing or depressing a rectangular portion 23 downwardly and forming a slot 28 through the base plate at the inner end of the rectangular portion. The depressed portion thus provides a countersink 29. The embracing end 25 of the keeper is first inserted through the slot 28 and is then seated in the countersink 29. The keeper is then extended along the base and at the end of the base it is bent upwardly and abuts the removable angle plate as shown in the drawings.

I claim:

A rail joint of the character described comprising a base plate having a depressed portion and a slot at the inner end of said depressed portion, angle plates, one of said angle plates being removable and a malleable keeper having one end extending through the slot of said base plate and seated in-the countersink formed by the depressed portion and having its other end extending upwardly to abut said removable angle plate and secure the same in position after it has been assembled with the base plate;

JERRY GOATTS PEPPERS. 

